Finishing the shrubs

I got up at 6:30, having been awake for awhile and unable to go back to sleep. I read e-mail, but my eyes hurt and I had a headache. I drank lots of water but it did not help. At nine my phone rang, but not for long. I picked it up and it told me I had a missed call. I called the number back, but it must have been from yesterday 'cause she sounded like she'd just woke up. Then I realized that the alarm did not go off at 8. I checked the settings and it was set for repeat. I read the manual and it did not explain further. 'Repeat' rings Mon through Fri. I just can't believe there is no way to set an alarm on the weekends, but this seems to be the case. I put away the dishes in the dishwasher. I juiced what veggies I had left. It made about 4 cups of juice. I drank it, and then meditated. But I got so tired that I had to lay down. It must have been over an hour. Then I took a shower and got dressed. I mended my nightgown. I made breakfast. I was supposed to go to a sewing day so I went down to find something to work on. By the time I did, it was 1:30 and I wondered if it was worth it at that point. I drank more water, and worked on several pursuits: a square directrix, sri yantra border with triangles or with an odd symmetrical shape. I still had the headache, so I went outside barefoot. That seemed to help. I pulled up more irises, did some weeding around the tomato plants, a little watering, etc. I came in to e-mail the next person on the list who wanted irises. She did not respond even though I checked off and on while I went through the process of trimming the tops of the bushes with an electric trimmer on a ladder. I also trimmed severely the small tree nearest the house where the leak is. I think it is responsible for making a crack in the wall. I carried load after load of branches to a pile by the street for pickup on Monday. As I gathered the last load, I cut my finger. For a few moments I just stared at it, marveling at how red the blood was. Then it started to sting so I washed it off inside. I checked e-mail again. I was able to make arrangements for the lady to get the irises tomorrow. I made a smoothie using a banana, frozen blueberries, strawberries, rhubarb and coconut milk. I threw in a square of dark chocolate. So good I almost got brain-freeze. I took the laundry down to the machine and heard Skype. It was MaryAnn. During the call I got the machine started. She wanted to make sure I was ok. She hung up when Chris got on Skype. I put the laundry in the dryer. I talked to him and Michele for over an hour. Then I posted and went to bed.

*  This is my sprouting sweet potato.  I hear the leaves are edible.  *

And the day started out so well...

I got up at 7:30, tempted to wait until 8 to hear the alarm go off. I gathered the recyclables together and sorted them into bags. I put them in the recycle bucket and took it out to the street. I put the Netflix movie in the mail. On the way back I checked the garden. The tomato plants are growing like gangbusters and I wish I had planted them farther apart. There are tomato plants growing in the compost pile. I picked up four more green apples. I read more e-mail, watching men do one arm handstands and pushups on Youtube. I turned the phone's snooze feature off permanently because it kept coming back on. I put on a video on detoxing esp. for cancer, and watched it while exercising, drybrushing, etc. I juiced, meditated, and ate breakfast. I took notes on the video. Skype indicated that I got a message from Michele, but when I clicked on her name, there was no message. I figured it had something to do with tomorrow being her birthday so I texted her “Happy Birthday”. I went outside to make mineral water and pour it on the tomatoes. I also picked up all the bush clippings. I used the wheelbarrow to get them to the road. Then I started thinning the irises. I filled the wheelbarrow. I filled a plant tray with dirt from the driveway where the leaves collect. I mixed in some horse/chicken manure. I planted salad greens in it and propped it up for better drainage. I set it where it will get some early sun but mostly shade during the hottest part of the day. When I came in, I posted to Freecycle that I had irises to give away. I took some niacin and laid in the sun. When I came in, there were Freecycle messages in my inbox. I called one and she said she'd be right over. I started mowing the lawn to sweat more. She arrived about 3:30. She brought laundry baskets to carry the plants in. We sorted through them, picking the most likely ones. She said she needed some color in her life, so I also dug up some morning glories, a marigold, a four o'clock and some garlic. Then she told me her sad story. I tapped for her behind my back. After she left, I checked e-mail and posted to Freecycle that the irises were gone. I took 5 charcoal tablets to clear the toxins that the niacin liberated from my cells. Then I got on the desktop computer to draw a parabola and the related geometry and make a quilt block out of it. My cursor was somewhere off to the right when a bunch of purple dots showed up. Beside one dot was written “Looks like I am going to Honduras”. I clicked over to the e-mail screen and there was a message from Chris to me and his extended family about getting the job in Honduras. I was stunned. And then I sobbed. And I tapped. My reply wasn't nice. I tapped furiously and closed windows so the neighbors wouldn't hear me. Chris wrote back, uncertain why I was upset. We traded some e-mails. I tried to eat, but I had no appetite, not even for weeds. I watched part of a video on how to eat to avoid cancer. The tapping must have helped. I stayed up, alternately watching the video and checking for responses from Chris. Then I remembered to run the dishwasher. At 11 I paused the video and went to bed.

*  Raised bed for growing salad greens  *

More pop-ups - wish I could remember what I planted

I got up at 7:30. I read e-mail until just after 8 and then started my exercise routine, followed by juicing and clean-up. How it took me until 10:30 to start preparing breakfast is beyond me. Nothing I can remember took any longer than usual, but how did it get so late? After eating most of breakfast, I called the mortgage company to investigate a HARP loan. A very nice young man answered and talked to me. I had a lot of questions and I think he wasn't used to dealing with someone with a math background. He got called away to a meeting and so promised to call me at 3:30. I went to Stitch-Its and worked on my 16-patch quilt top until it was all one piece. I think I did more talking than sewing. Marjorie told me how she grows lettuce in a potting soil bag. I got home by 2:30 and started using on-line mortgage calculators to verify his numbers, but they did not come out the same way. I opened a spreadsheet to run my own calculations, but used an awful lot of time learning how to enter info in the cells. The “Help” file wasn't much help. I enjoyed running different scenarios until almost 5. Then I stopped to call the man and he did not answer so I left a message. It rained while I was gone, and lightly all afternoon. I got the mail – junk. I checked the garden and found new sprouts. I picked a few things for a smoothie: pea leaves and a pod, dandelion, mint, chickweed, kale, spinach and oxalis.  The chickweed was really hard to find.  I added some broccoli and a yellow pepper from the fridge. After I ate, I investigated sea minerals for improved gardens. It sounds like one of my supplements so I might try that first. I also looked up pocket hoses, which Marjorie also recommended. But the reviews were mostly bad, indicating low quality. I fast-forwarded through some videos on-line, and decided to watch a Netflix video. It was called Made of Honor. It was mostly a cute movie and I would like to recommend it, but there were too many scenes in bad taste. When the movie was over, I checked e-mail one last time, and went to bed, amazed how late it was.

Little green apples

When I went to bed last night, my hands felt hot and swollen. So I propped them up when I went to sleep. I got up at 6:30, then went back to bed. I did not realize it was so late when I got up again at 7:45. I read e-mail while holding a bag of frozen peas in my hands. I finished a video from last night, exercised, juiced and made breakfast. My hands and wrists still hurt from yesterday, so I put both wrist splints on. I printed out a document that Chris sent me. I called the lady at the bank but she was at lunch. I rooted around in my sewing room to find fabric for Sunday and the next guild meeting. At 1, I called her back and left a message. When she returned my call, I told her I needed to fax the document and she said to come down to the bank. So I jumped in the car and drove over, not cognizant of how I must look. I took the splints off in the car but there was nothing I could do about the lack of bra. She kindly sent the fax and went on to the next customer. The traffic on Airport Road was just endless. I put the splints back on. When I got home, I checked the mail and told Chris what he needed to know. I cleared more e-mail and watched another video. I finished breakfast. I went downstairs to cut strips. I came up to see how many I would need. 5. Then I went outside to water the newly planted patches of ground. I picked some garlic blossoms and wild lettuce to eat. I was surprised that the squash had sprouted already. And I found a fully formed pea pod. I also found little green apples that fell off the tree prematurely. I collected them in my shirt and brought them inside. I sliced them thinly to get all the hidden rotten spots. Then I put the pieces in the Bullet with a banana, frozen rhubarb, and coconut milk. It was pretty good but not sweet. I went down to count strips. There were 15, so I had plenty. I wrapped them for Sunday. I also cut 7 strips for the next guild meeting. I watched a video while trying to slow my breath and do some tapping. I made a sprout and broccoli smoothie for supper, but was unable to eat it all. I took my tablet and drove to church for choir practice. It was shorter than usual because we are almost done for the year. The organist did not show up, so we asked the new Jennifer to play when she came in. And with no warning, she did an outstanding job. There was one song with no intro and she made one up that was very fitting. I was so impressed. She is starting a praise band this summer so we talked about that. I went home to check the tablet. I was having a bit of trouble with the piano app. Sadly, that lead to playing 2048. It surprised me when I made it and then asked if I wanted to continue playing. Well, I did. But then I found that after all that wanting the 2048 tile, it becomes a real nuisance on the board. Then it was time to finish a tapping video and go to bed.

*  This is from the guild meeting show and tell.  *

Tomatoes are starting to blossom

I rehung the shower curtain last night, then went to bed with a tapping book. I tapped through several 'chapters' before turning off the light. I got up at 7:30, and read e-mail. I watched a video on the cancer epidemic while exercising and juicing. I added trace minerals to the juice, and it was not bad.
I meditated. I thought I had time to eat breakfast so I made it but then had to leave it for later. I put my drybrushing brush in some soapy water to soak. I drove to post to get the mail. Then to the Sew Faithful group to visit them But they had to clear the room for another group so that did not last long. I was talking to Beverly outside when my phone rang. It was the optometrist's office calling to give me an appointment with a specialist in two weeks. Then I went to the Asian store for kimbap. It was made by someone else this week and was not as good. On the way home I stopped for gas. When I got home, I ate all of my breakfast and all of the kimbap with kimchi. I could feel myself in an eating mood, so I needed to get out of the house and away from the food. I went to the bank to talk to the account specialist about refinancing. It did not seem like she could give me a great rate, but she promised to have a mortgage specialist call me. She gave me some homework on finding out a few key things about the loans. When I got home, I e-mailed Chris about the bills. And I called our mortgage company. But they refused to talk to me without written permission from Chris. And they would not accept an e-mail, only a fax. I laid in the sun until the ants bit me.  (That seems so unfair considering how tolerant I've been.)  I cleared more e-mail, getting below 50 unread for the first time in a long time.  I watched an episode of TQS.  I worked on designing a smaller circular border. I cooked a sweet potato in the toaster oven. I put on pants and shoes to try out the weed eater. I was less than impressed with the job it did around the fence, or anywhere. Maybe it takes practice? I also tried the trimmer function. I checked my garden and found a good-sized pea pod, and a tomato blossom. I ate the pod and put the trimmer away and got out the clippers. I started with a plan of clipping one bush a day so as not to overdo it. I could not finish the first bush without a ladder, so I started a second one. And the others followed. I trimmed what I could reach on all of them. By then it was almost dark, so I put my tools away and came in to read e-mail. I listened to Maryann Williamson's campaign speech as I looked through pins of quilts on Pinterest. Then I got a link to a video of tapping for being uncomfortable with money. The tapping expert was using a 635 nanometer laser on the patient's aural acupuncture points. Fascinating. She was also doing muscle testing, and the extra water I have been drinking made it work really well. I paused the video at 10 to write to my blog.

*  This is the red project I worked on yesterday  *

Memorial Day or Chris' birthday, depending on where you are

I got up a little after 8, disappointed that the phone alarm either did not go off or did not wake me. I reset it for 9 so I could hear it. When it rang, it was so quiet and soothing that it wouldn't wake someone on coffee. I read e-mail and went through my usual routine. By the time I got to breakfast it was 11. Then I packed a lunch, and put needles and hoops in my sewing box. I figured I would work on Barbara's quilt and invite others to join me. I also put in the set of red squares as a back up project. I am glad I did because Jodi did not come, so neither did Barbara's quilt. So I sewed all the red squares together and pressed the seams open. Then I ate my lunch, which was significantly later than the others ate. Because it was Memorial Day, they had potato salad and pork barbeque and chocolate cheesecake. Dinah decorated the table very nicely. My second project of the day was to sew the 16- patch squares together. I placed them on the design wall and Laurie helped me reorganize them. Them I started sewing. But I stopped when I remembered that I needed to save something to do for the Thursday group. I took my projects home. I ate some kimchi and finished up the eggs. I was going to mow, but then Dad called to return my call on Saturday and he told me how it was such a bad day 'cause Mom fell. Again. After I talked to him, I went out to rake the tall grass under the magnolia so I could mow it. But it was hard raking, and then I heard thunder. So I went ahead and mowed it before it could get wet and harder to mow. There was power left in the battery, so I mowed the worst of the back yard and some in the front yard and some in the side yard. I put the mower away and thought about the weedeater we bought. Thinking I could just plug it in and go, I opened the box and started reading the instructions. Some assembly required. Groan. I had to install the guard, which did not look like the picture until I realized the trimmer was rotated the wrong way. Then a handle had to be installed. And finally, the daylight faded. I guess it is ready for tomorrow. So I turned my attention to the circular border. I have a plan B, but I remember seeing it used on a quilt in a book. So I got out that book and could not find it in there. But I did see an interesting piecing technique which I was tempted to try. I looked through a few other books, but no dice. Then I came across a book on tessellations. It is not a quilting book, but any of the diagrams could be made into quilts. I realized that I missed supper. So, I came up and made a broccoli and sprout smoothie, with sea salt and fiber powder. It was reasonable. I then remembered that earlier in the day I had had a great idea for a smoothie with a banana in it. But sadly I forgot what went with the banana. Chris sent me an e-mail that reminded me of his birthday. I hadn't exactly forgotten, I thought it was tomorrow (the 27^th), but it already is the 27^th where he is. Happy Birthday, Chris. Faye and I texted each other through skype. I always like hearing from her. But then she had to go to bed so she could get up for work. And it was time for me to go to bed.

Washing the shower curtain liner

I got up at 5:30, cleared some e-mail and went back to bed. When I got up the second time, it was 7:30. I was having a bad dream about kids playing with my trombone, and damaging it. I read some e-mail, and made breakfast. I noticed that even with extra water changes, something was growing on the water my nuts soak in. At 7:54 my new phone's alarm went off. Sadly it was just a vibrating hum. I would have never heard it from the bedroom. I checked and yes it is set for playing an annoying tune. So I don't know why it did not ring. The old phone did not ring. But the screen was still working. Maybe it has developed an allergy to the sim card? I made and ate breakfast, then took a shower. I had trouble deciding what to wear. But I was ready to leave by 9. There was only one person sitting in church when I got there. I talked to her until her husband arrived. We only had one service today which I thought would be well attended. But I saw very few early service people, and lots of late service people. The intern gave the sermon and Pastor Ettraim did communion. After the service, I talked to Jeanne about the altar cloths she wants to collaborate on. When I left, I went home to change clothes, and then to the grocery store. When I got back, I put the groceries away and finished breakfast. I read e-mail, and folded laundry. Some of it was not dry yet. I think it is the humidity. I moved the nut storage container from the garage to the basement which is much cooler. I laid in the sun for awhile, and got bit by ants. I soaked a new Brita filter and replaced the old one. I laid down for awhile. Then I took down the shower curtain liner and laid it in the driveway. It had mildew on it. I mixed some Borax in a bucket, and sprayed the worst parts with stain remover. I used a mop to clean it. However, the pavement was exceedingly hot so I did a quick job it. My poor feet. I left it lying in the sun. If the Borax doesn't kill the mildew, maybe the heat will. In the cool basement, I redrafted the circular border, and added background pieces so it will have an octagonal edge. I was ready to mount it on cardboard to cut up into templates, but my cardboard needed to lay flat for awhile. I mowed the back lawn, and swept magnolia blossoms from the driveway. I put sprouts and broccoli in the Bullet. For dessert I had square of dark chocolate with blueberries. Somehow the bag of frozen berries fell over and a bunch went all over the kitchen floor. I picked those up, but missed the ones on the carpet. Those defrosted and made stains. I read e-mail, and went through new quilt pins on Pinterest. Since I created my own page, I have gained three followers, and several people have repinned some of the pics. It is a nice feeling. At 10, I was ready to write to my blog. I realized that I forgot to make hummus. I googled Bullet recipes and one said it would take 5 minutes. I had 5 minutes. But it was 45 minutes later that I scooped out the hummus into a jar and started the clean-up process. No food gets wasted around here. Whatever I don't eat, the roaches will. Kurt called so I could test my phone.  It works, but not with the ringtone I selected.   NOW I am ready for bed.
*  My PVC drying rack.  Not much good in 84 humid degrees.  *